Sulphonated phenolic resins were first used as ion exchange resins in the 1930's (Adams et al, J Soc Chem Ind. 54, (1935) 1-GT) and relatively stable cation and anion exchange resins were used extensively for the softening and demineralisation of water. Other phenolic based resins include the weak base anion exchange resins that have been primarily used in food processing applications (Cristal M J, Chem and Ind, 814, Nov 7, 1983) and chelation resins which can be produced to give remarkable selectivity for the adsorption of metal ions such as cesium (U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,159, 1983 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,991, 1995). The ion exchange powders, can be produced by either bulk curing of the resin followed by milling (e.g. WO91/09891) to produce a low porosity powder or by reversed phase condensation (Unitaka Ltd U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,969 1986). One of the limitations of these materials was limited internal porosity and they were rapidly replaced by the highly porous sulphonated styrene divinyl benzene copolymer based ion exchange resins when these became available. However, although the phenolic based resins have largely disappeared, specific applications do still exist in food related industries based on their underlying performance characteristics.
The phenolic resins can be carbonised to form mesoporous carbons. Mesoporous carbons are used as adsorbents or catalysts supports and can be used in spherical, granular of thin film form. Existing production methods use gas phase and chemical activation routes to produce mesoporous carbons but, activated carbon, as conventionally produced, is normally microporous (<2 nm pore diameter—IUPAC definition) with little or no pore volume in the mesopore (2-50 nm) and macropore (>50 nm) range. For some critical adsorption processes such as evaporative emission control, and when used as a catalyst support, particularly in liquid phase applications, this is a major drawback.
Conventional activated carbons can be made mesoporous through severe activation but this seriously degrades their mechanical properties and the materials are generally then only available as fine powders. U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,086 discloses the use of chemical activation to produce mesoporous carbons without such severe mechanical degradation and which also can be produced as extrudates. These are however still produced as powders and must then be bound to produce, for instance, extrudate for use in fixed bed gas phase processes. In most cases the binders that can be used are polymeric or ceramic which then restricts the conditions under which the carbons can be used.
Chemical activation can also be used to directly produce mesoporous carbons by pelleting or extruding a plasticised acidic lignin base char and then directly carbonising and activating the mixture as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,703. The production route also leads to a low macroporosity, which can have disadvantages in catalytic and liquid phase processes. The route also has the disadvantage of requiring compounds such as phosphoric acid and zinc chloride as the activating agents, which can cause severe environmental problems and have a major impact on the materials of construction of the process plant.
An alternative route is to carbonise sulphonated styrene-divinylbenzene co-polymers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,990 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,331. These produce carbons directly by pyrolysis with meso/microporosity without recourse to further activation. The materials therefore have good mechanical properties. They are, however, limited to relatively small particle sizes, fixed by the polymer production route, and have a limited range of mesopore structures. They are also very expensive reflecting the high cost of the precursor polymer, the low carbon yields and environmental problems associated with processing polymers containing large amounts of sulphur. The resultant carbons are also contaminated with sulphur, which restricts their use as catalysts supports.
A further route has also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,016 whereby sulphonated styrene-divinylbenzene co-polymer particles can be formed into pellets in the presence of large volume of concentrated sulphuric acid and then carbonised to give structured materials with both meso- and macroporosity. The route is however complex and expensive with significant environmental problems
A further route is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,268 where a mesoporous silica with the desired macroshape (i.e. spheres) is impregnated with a carbon forming polymer, such as phenolic or polyfurfuryl resin and then dissolving the silica template in an alkali. This again is a highly expensive route and is only capable of producing the carbon material in a limited range of shapes and forms